This is Intel’s 2-in-1 tablet reference design for China

There’s no shortage of 2-in-1 tablets featuring detachable keyboards. But Intel wants to make it easy for Chinese PC makers to create new models, so the company is updating its reference designs for 2016.

The chip maker recommends using low-power Intel Core M3 Skylake processors, screen sizes ranging from 9.7 inches to 12.5 inches, and heat sinks and case materials designed to dissipate heat so that the tablets can be fanless.

What’s new is that the reference design also includes suggestions for USB Type-C connectors and cameras that support Microsoft’s Windows Hello authentication features.

The addition of USB 3.1 Type-C enables tablet owners to use the same port to plug in a power adapter, external display, flash drive, keyboard, mouse, game controller, or other accessory.

As for the cameras, Intel’s new design recommends USB or MIPI cameras with IR sensors and IR LEDs which can be used for facial recognition, allowing you to login to a Windows 10 PC or to apps or websites by looking at the camera.

The reference design gives tablet makers a lot of leeway. Devices can have anywhere from 1GB to 8GB of RAM, between 32GB and 256GB of eMMC 5.0 or M.2 SSD storage, and “soft” keyboard covers like the detachable covers used by the Microsoft Surface line of tablets, or “hard” covers like the Asus Transformer Book line of covers which weigh more and attach firmly to the tablet to turn it into a notebook.

Intel does recommend that most systems should have 802.11ac WiFi and Bluetooth 4.1.

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Ditch emmc, ditch sub 8gb ram, ditch sub 512gb ssd, ffs. Slaping an intel core m to those lowies that are only up to an atom like processor and a low one is a waste.

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2 years ago

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mark

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eMMC is still way faster than conventional spinning hard disks – target your complaints at laptops still using that.

Less than 512GB is perfectly fine, especially on an ultra-portable. And although more RAM is always nice, I happily do productive things like Windows and Android development on 2GB RAM on my 2-in-1.

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2 years ago

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Dave Samson

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Care to share why?

I’ve bought 4 different Chinese tablets from Gearbest and Bang good. They’re not without their faults, but they’re fantastic value if you know what you’re getting into

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2 years ago

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Matthew Harris

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I just bought a $40 iView Android 5.1 tablet from Newegg (it was advertised as having Android 5.0 but the one I received has 5.1). It isn’t the fastest thing around but for a Kindle Reader it seems to work flawlessly and is capable enough of simple web browsing. I liked it enough that I ordered a second one for my mother. It was made in China and is distributed by Wiltronic. As Grant said, it isn’t without faults but as of now it seems like a good value (the final determination will be made in about a year after it has seen some long-term use). One thing I have heard about direct from China $35-$40 tablets — don’t use the USB charger that comes with them (although the one with my iView seems to be fine, I tested it on something I don’t have an attachment to before I… Read more »

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2 years ago

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Grant Russell

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Hah, let’s see if any of the Chinese makers actually obey that thermal design

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2 years ago

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The People's Eyebrow

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Some of you don’t seem to get why manufacturers offer low cost (sub $200) options. It’s about accessibility and inclusion. The non tech savvy crowd (stereotypically seen as the mothers, grandmothers and aunts) and for people who can’t afford the Surface Pros. Not to mention people who just want a compact machine to carry around for basic tasks. If you are trying to run resource heavy tasks on a first generation T100 with 2GB of RAM and an Atom processor, you are doing it wrong. Go buy a Surface Pro or Surface Book. Just my two cents.